Hi, I'm Ron Gardner, Founder and CEO of Gardner Acquisitions & Closings. I've spent years inside hospital operations and healthcare systems before pivoting into acquisition entrepreneurship, so when I say I want people who can operate under real pressure, I mean it literally. I built this firm the same way I ran a pharmacy floor: on process, precision, and follow-through. We're a fundless sponsor targeting lower middle market businesses ($1.5M+ EBITDA, $3M+ asking price, 10+ years of operating history, industry-agnostic except general construction). Right now we've got roughly 2,700 businesses in our pipeline and a team of 16 running it. The bottleneck isn't finding deals. It's getting brokers on the phone and getting meetings on the calendar. That's what this posting is for. I already have people who can read a CIM. What I need right now is a real front-line pair: people who aren't afraid to dial and get a broker to say yes to a meeting, and people who can then take that meeting and actually run the conversation, asking the right questions, discussing LOI terms, and talking through offers. I review applications on a rolling basis. Don't wait. THE ROLES 1. Cold Caller, First Point of Contact You are the front door of this firm. Before I ever get on a call with a broker, you've already qualified them. You know our buy box cold ($1.5M+ EBITDA, $3M+ asking price, 10+ years operating history, industry-agnostic except general construction), and you're screening every conversation against it in real time. You've picked up the phone in a professional context before, and you know how humbling it can be. You're not scared of it. You can make fifty calls a day, get hung up on forty-five times, and still sound sharp and on point on call forty-six. Your only job is getting a qualified broker to say yes to a meeting, but make no mistake: nothing happens at this firm without you. No meeting gets taken, no LOI gets discussed, no deal gets found, if you don't make the call and make it count. A natural fit if you've got a sales background, or you genuinely want to build that muscle instead of just talking about it. 2. Meeting Taker / Acquisition Specialist Once the Cold Caller books it, you're the one who actually shows up to the meeting. You'll get on calls with brokers, walk through the opportunity, ask the right questions about the business, and start real conversations about LOIs and offer terms, not just take notes, but actually drive the conversation forward. You need to be sharp on your feet, comfortable representing the firm directly to a broker, and not intimidated by talking numbers or structure before you've fully mastered them. A fit for anyone who wants direct deal experience, not just support work behind the scenes. WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS HERE I need people who will: Show up for every shift they commit to, without me chasing them. Track everything, every call, every outcome, so nothing gets lost. Treat a scheduled meeting as a real commitment, not a soft placeholder. WHAT YOU'LL ACTUALLY GET Real reps on the phone with real business owners and brokers, not role-play. For Meeting Takers: direct, unfiltered experience discussing LOIs and offer terms with brokers. The actual work of an acquisition specialist. For Cold Callers: direct ownership of the top of the funnel. Every meeting that leads to a deal starts with you, and you'll see exactly how many you personally put on the board. A front-row seat to what happens after the meeting: how I evaluate the business, what I ask, why some deals move and others die. A team that's already operating. You're plugging into a live pipeline, not building one from scratch. WHO I'M LOOKING FOR MBA students, undergrads, recent grads, or working professionals who want real sales reps and are serious about following through. No prior M&A experience required. What I care about most here is reliability. PROGRAM DETAILS Remote Unpaid internship Start Date: Monday, July 13, 2026 through September 30, 2026 Rolling interviews begin Monday, July 6 Applications close Thursday, July 9 Approximately 20 to 24 hours per week Hiring for total headcount across both roles, not per role. Apply for whichever fits you. Strong performers in either role may have the opportunity to continue with Gardner Acquisitions & Closings beyond the internship as we keep growing. Both roles are core to how this firm actually finds and closes deals. Neither one works without the other. More on the firm: Gardner Acquisitions & Closings, redacted TO APPLY DM me directly with: 1. Which of the two roles you want, and why that one specifically. 2. A time you had to push through rejection or a grind. What happened, and how'd you handle it. 3. Your actual availability for the full run. Be honest, not aspirational. A resume is welcome but not required. How clearly and quickly you respond tells me more than a bullet-point history will. Looking forward to hearing from you.